SALEM, Ore.—Although ODFW will be closed on Friday, Oct. 16, 2009, a mandatory unpaid furlough day for all state employees, customers may still purchasehunting and fishing licenses and tags online or at a license sales agent that day.

Oct. 16 is the deadline to purchase a general season Cascade bull elk tag, so hunters that have waited until the last day will need to purchase their tag online or at a license sales agent. Any exchange involving a Cascade bull elk tag must be done at an ODFW office by 5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 15. Tags cannot be exchanged at license sale agents.

ODFW’s wildlife areas and hatcheries will be open to visitors on Oct. 16 and other furlough days but staff will not be available to assist customers. Hunters are still responsible for checking in and out of wildlife areas using the self check-in process.

Any wildlife areas that have a staffed check-in process will not be open to hunters on furlough days. For the 2009-10 season, the only wildlife area affected is Sauvie Island Wildlife Area in Portland. Nov. 27 is another furlough day and Sauvie Island will not be open for waterfowl hunting, which is reflected in the 2009-10 Oregon Game Bird Regulations.

The closure on Oct. 16 is the first of 10 closure dates the state has scheduled over the remainder of the current two-year budget period due to state budget cuts. The other scheduled mandatory furlough days are:

Do you have a question or comment for ODFW? Contact ODFW's Public Service Representative at: odfw.info@state.or.us
Do you want to enter your opinion about a specific issue into the public record? Contact: odfw.comments@state.or.us